PASAKALYE

Three holy days of obligation

- December 8 – Immaculate Conception

SACRAMENT is a sensible and effective sign og grace - December 25 – Nativity of our Lord
instituted by Christ. - January 1 – Mary mother of God

THE BIBLE is the word of God written in man’s words

under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
CHRISTIAN PRAYER

- Is or loving, conscious, and personal

OLD TESTAMENT relationship with the Triune God (CFC
1475). Prayer is our conversation to God. It
NEW TESTAMENT is important and necessary for us to grow in
love with God. And it is the lifting up of our
hearts and minds to God.
THE GOSPELS are books of the bible that contains
3 basic Prayers
the life of Jesus.
- Our Father
- Hail Mary
MATTHEW - Glory be

MARK

LUKE

JOHN

PRAYER is the lifting up of our hearts and minds to

God.
Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication (ACTS)

HOLY MASS

Two parts of the mass:

- LITURGY OF THE WORD

- LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
LIVING THE FAITH: Christian Morality
“BEING a Christian is not just about following commandments: it is about letting
Christ take possession of our lives and transform them.”

- POPE FRANCIS

Today, worldly things and values seem to persuade us to follow them. We are
sometimes attracted to popular celebrities, material possessions, or self centered
attitudes of doing things without any regard for the good of others. Amidst these
many competing factors, Christ never ceases to call us ti become truly free and
truly happy.

CHRISTIAN MORALITY

Sacred Scripture
Tradition of the Church

 CHRISTIAN MORALITY- following Jesus Christ as His disciples, strengthened by

the Holy Spirit. It is about doing and living and doing what makes us truly free
and reflecting on our human experiences in the light of the life and teachings
of Jesus.
 we live in a world filled with many obstacles and opportunities to following
Christ and His way of love;
 As followers of Christ, we need to turn to what God has revealed to us
in Sacred Scripture, as well as in its faithful interpretation through the Tradition
of the Church.

Sacred Scripture – “The Book of the People of God” or the book of the church
because it was written by individuals from the people of God, for the people of
God.

Tradition of the Church- the sacred Scripture grew from the tradition of the Early
Christian Community, and it continues to be interpreted today through the living
Tradition of the Church, which includes the life, worship and teaching of the church.

Papal encyclicals – the documents of Church councils, and other official teachings
throughout the centuries aim to bring the message of the scriptures to respond to
the changing challenges, context and issues of the times. (CFC 84)
A. CHRISTIAN MORALITY ASK, “WHAT SHOULD I DO?”

Like the rich young man, many of us have been looking for someone who could
answer one of life’s most important question:

“What good must I do to gain eternal life?”

o “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17)

His question implies his desire to be truly free and happy to have a life spent on
something valuable and lasting He is yearning for something more than ordinary
success. Sometimes we have similar hopes as with those of young man.

There must be more than to our life than our:

 Accomplishments → Fulfillment and Freedom in loving our family

 Possessions → Preparing well for an exam,
 Reputations → Listen to a friend with problem.

We want to be remembered and recognized as a good person through our good

acts. Knowing our daily choices affect the kind of person we would become, we
ask Jesus about how good we ought to do.

B. CHRISTIAN MORALITY ENTAILS BEING TRUE TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

· Why do you ask me about the good?

There is only one who is good.

Jesus revealed to young man that He is more than a prophet or a great
teacher; He is the only begotten Son of the Father in human form.
Jesus reveals to us that doing good is not just a matter of following a set of
rules. “it is about true to our covenant with God”.
God is the source of our goodness because He has loved us first. (See 1 Jn
4:19) our capacity to do good is comes from God Himself.
C. CHRISTIAN MORALITY ENTAILS KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS

· Which one?

Jesus’ commands to obey God’s Law leads us to reflect on the true value of
God’s Commandments.
Decalogue - was the concrete expression of their covenant relationship with
God, He wanted His people to gained true freedom and happiness, which is
found only by loving God and loving one’s neighbour.
The Commandments - are the simplest, clearest and most universal norms for
human goodness that have come down to us through history.

- Urge us to truly love God and our neighbour in all that we do.

Christian Morality is Following Christ

What do I still lack?

 “If you wish to be perfect, go sell what you have and give it to poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me”
 Jesus’ demand seems difficult, but we remember how Christ’s first disciples
(Peter, Andrew, James, and John) all simple fishermen were able to leave
their nets and their Families behind to follow Christ.
 Christ calls us to follow Him amidst the many Joys and trials, or amidst the light
and shadows of growing up.
 His desire is for us to become truly happy and free.
 Christ Himself shown us the way, for He is “the way the truth and the life” (Jn
14:6)

Who then can be saved?

We sometimes pose the same question to Christ when, in our world of lights and
shadows, we find it difficult to live our faith. Christ assures us of God’s love and
grace.

“For human being this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” -Mt 19:26

 St, John Paul II the Great wrote that we are capable of living out the love of
Christ “only by virtue of a gift received” – the gift of Christ perfect example
and the presence of the holy spirit in our lives.
 Christian Morality if following Christ in a world of lights and shadows that exist
within us and in the society.
 God is Both the ultimate source and norm of goodness
  The Commandments are the simplest, clearest, and most universal norms for
human good that have come down to us through history.
 Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of the Father, source of our strength to follow
him and grow every day in His likeness.
 The goal of Christian Morality: Respond to the call of becoming loving
persons in the fullness of life with others in the Christian Community.

INCLINATION – feeling of wanting to do something

Morality pertains to the goodness or evilness of an action or something to be acted.

- Objective – law
- Subjective – conscience

Three aspects of morality

Object – the action done

Intention – the purpose for doing the action
Circumstances – non-essential things that affects the action

Christian Morality = Relationship with God

Christian Morality = Keeping the Commandments

“Love of god and love of neighbor are the very foundations of freedom and happiness.”
BEING HUMAN, BEING MORAL
“MAN has been given a sublime dignity, based on the intimate bond which unites
him to his creator: in man there shines forth a reflection of God himself”

ST. JOHN PAUL II. EVANGELIUM VITAE 34

Christian Message
Doctrine: Being moral or doing what is good means, first and foremost, acting in a
truly human way;

Moral: God created all persons as historical beings, embodied spirits, conscious
beings, relational, and unique though fundamentally equal;

Worship: As Christians, we believe that the ultimate foundation of our inestimable

dignity and worth is the love of our Triune God, who created, redeemed, sanctified,
and destined us to share in His own life; and

We express our recognition of and gratitude for the gift of our human dignity in our
genuine compassion and love for our neighbour.

I. CELEBRATING OUR HUMAN DIGNITY

A. WE ARE HISTORICAL BEINGS

“Be patient with me. I am a work in progress”

Ø HISTORICAL BEING- who are constantly growing in many different aspects. We

mature in discernible stages not only in physical terms, but also in the way we relate
with others, in our awareness of ourselves and of our free acts.

“Madaling maging tao, pero mahirap magpakatao”

Ø Reminds us that we become our fullest selves only through time.

Ø We are free historical being in progress.

Ø The decision we make today shape and direct the kind of person we will
become.
Since we are pilgrims on the road we becoming our true selves, we realize that
growing up involves all our daily actions that include our relationships with family
and friends, our work in school and our preparation for a job or particular career.

B. We are Embodied Spirits

· The human person is being at once corporeal and spiritual.

· “Soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man

Our souls are not separate from our bodies, or our bodies from our souls. Just as
through the mystery of the Incarnation we believe that Jesus Christ is simultaneously
fully human and fully divine, and that his humanity cannot somehow be separated
from his divinity or his divinity somehow dissected from his humanity, so too we
believe that from our conception our souls and bodies are interrelated. Indeed, this
is one of the reasons we believe in the resurrection of the body. Not only did Jesus
Christ rise with a glorified body, but we too will be given “glorified bodies” upon
resurrection that will perpetuate this embodied spirit dynamic in eternal life.

Very Rev. Jeff Nicolas

Cathedral of the Assumption

C. WE ARE CONSCIOUS BEINGS

“aware of ourselves in our outgoing acts”

We have the capacity to become aware of our thinking, emotions, experiences, as well
as the meaning of our acts.
CELEBRATING OUR HUMAN DIGNITY
“MAN has been given a sublime dignity, based on the intimate bond which unites him
to his creator: in man there shines forth a reflection of God himself”

ST. JOHN PAUL II. EVANGELIUM VITAE 34

Christian Message
Moral: Christian moral life is a response to God’s call for us to become our fullest selves
through free and graced human acts.

Doctrine: The Christian vision of our human dignity is grounded on the truth that every
person is created and sustained by God, redeemed by Christ, empowered to love by
the Holy Spirit, and destined to share in Gods eternal life.

Worship: Only human person with reason and free will have the capacity to enter into a
personal relationship with God.

We are Conscious Beings

 Human person have the capacity to think (INTELLECT) and capacity to

choose (FREE WILL) because we are created in God’s image and likeness of
God.
 “aware of ourselves in our outgoing acts”
 We have the capacity to become aware of our thinking, emotions, experiences,
as well as the meaning of our acts.
 Only human person have the capacity to ask “Who Am I?” “Who Am I Really?”
his capacity for self-reflection shows how we are conscious beings – aware of
[ourselves] in [our] outgoing acts. (CFC 688)
 Because we are conscious beings we “rise above the whole universe of mere
objects” (GS 14) that is driven by external forces for instincts.
 The fact that we are conscious beings is central to our course because morality
deals with consciously and freely chosen acts or human acts.

o Human acts – freely chosen acts.

o Acts of human- instinctive or involuntary human processes.

We are called to become aware of our free human acts and carefully discern the
good that we must do because it is only through the good and proper use of our
freedom that we become more fully ourselves.
Some theologians distinguish between human acts and acts-of-humans. Freely chosen
acts are called human acts, while instinctive or involuntary human oricesses are called
acts-of-human, or acts that happen to human.

We are relational Beings

Our relational nature touches every stage and aspect of our lives.

o PERSON BY OTHERS- we were born and raised by our families and live with the
influence of relatives, neighbors, and friends.

o PERSON WITH OTHERS – we become fully ourselves only in the company of the other
people. (Example: barkada or circle of friends)

o PERSON FOR OTHERS- we are able to overcome our self centered tendencies in
order to love others. (Example: Sacrifice our time on the computer to help our siblings to
review for an exam.)

 Our Christian faith affirms this call to be by, with, and for others.

“It is not good for man to be alone” – Gn 2:18-24

God, who created us in His image and likeness, is the loving communion of Three Divine
Persons. God’s very essence is a family or community.

“We will be received in the company of all Christ’s joyous members” (CFC 2059)
God has always related to us not only as individuals but also as members of community.

Our love for God must find its true and explicit expression in our love for one another.
Our relationship with God and or relationship with our families, friends and community
are and must always be inseparably bound together.

We are Unique. Though Fundamentally Equal

 We are all different: physical characteristics and varying opinions, as well as

diverse beliefs, traits and behaviours.
 We expect others to accept us in our uniqueness.
 We should learn to respect the uniqueness of others, for we know deep down
that we are all human persons worthy of respect.
 APPRECIATED and RESPECTED when someone understands and accepts us for
who we are despite our occasional faults and quirks.
 HURT and REJECTED when some people label us and call us names because of
our unique traits, physical features or behaviour.
JESUS CHRIST REVEALS TO US THE
FULLNESS OF OUR DIGNITY
We look to Christ not only as the perfect exemplar of being fully human, but also as the
source of the inner strength we need to follow Him, which He gives through the Holy
Spirit.

(CFC 585)

Christian Message
Moral: Christian moral life is a response to God’s call for us to become our fullest selves
through free and graced human acts.

Doctrine: The Christian vision of our human dignity is grounded on the truth that every
person is created and sustained by God, redeemed by Christ, empowered to love by
the Holy Spirit, and destined to share in Gods eternal life.

Worship: Only human person with reason and free will have the capacity to enter into a
personal relationship with God.

I. We are Created in the Image and Likeness of God

 Human person is the crown of God’s creation.

 God created man in His image; in the image of God He created them; male
and female He created them.
 “Be fertile and multiply…”
 “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant…”
 As the image of God, every individual possesses the dignity of a person; he or
she is someone, not just something. (CCC 357)
 In Christ we have become a “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), transformed into His
likeness through His perfect example and empowering grace.

II. We have been redeemed by Christ

 Christ has shown us through His Paschal Mystery that what makes us truly human
is not our self-centeredness and sin, but our capacity to love.
 Paschal Mystery:
o Passion

o Death

o Resurrection

 Christ saved us by showing us what it means to love and empowering us to

overcome the power of Sin. (CFC 573)

READ: 1 PT. 2:21, 24

III. We are empowered to Love by the Holy Spirit

 God transforms and strengthens us individuals to grow in love and live according
to our dignity as His adopted children.
 Our capacity to die to our self-centeredness and sin in order to be of loving
service to others is itself a gift from God, for our very goodness finds its source in
God’s Holy Spirit.
 God makes us holy as individuals and sanctifies the Christian community.

READ:

· Roma 5:5

· Gal 5:22-23

IV. We are destined to Share in God’s Eternal Life

 We believe that all are called to be adopted children of God and share in His
gift of eternal life.
 All persons belong to God’s family and are destined to share in the happiness
and freedom of God’s children.
 Every person we meet is a brother or sister in Christ Jesus, through whom we
gain adaptation as the father’s son and daughter.

READ: GAL 4:4-7

GROWING IN AUTHENTIC FREEDOM
Our Freedom is God’s gift. With this gift, we can choose to heed God’s call to be truly
happy by following Christ in our everyday living.

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Cor 3:17

Christian Message
Moral: Becoming true disciple of Christ means exercising one’s freedom with
responsibility.

Doctrine: God, the source of all goodness, has always called us to true happiness and
freedom.

Worship: Prayer is our explicit encounter with God who is the source of all Goodness.

I. What is Freedom?

ü Noun

o the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

· Growing in freedom mean so much more than being able to do all we act responsibly.

· is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and also to
perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.

· Human Freedom

- is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when
directed toward God.

The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes.

Freedom is abused when one chooses to disobey and do evil.

 Freedom determines the growth of one’s being as a person through choices consistent
within the true good.

Big decisions in life are best made with the inspiration of God

When we are in doubt, difficult and confusing situations, we offer it to God and ask the
graces of the Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the way

God has willed that man remain under the control of his own decisions.” Sirach 15:14
FREEDOM IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Our Freedom is God’s gift. With this gift, we can choose to heed God’s call to be truly
happy by following Christ in our everyday living.

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Cor 3:17

Christian Message
Moral: Becoming true disciple of Christ means exercising one’s freedom with
responsibility.

Doctrine: God, the source of all goodness, has always called us to true happiness and
freedom.

Worship: Prayer is our explicit encounter with God who is the source of all Goodness.

I. AM I FREE?

· Freedom is an integral part of our actions and our very selves.

· As we mature, we gain more responsibilities; freedom should be limitless.

· Absolute Freedom – is the clamor of some people for the absolute right over their
lives and bodies, especially the “right” to commit abortion and euthanasia.

· Determinism – the absence of free will. (Sigmund Freud, B.F Skinner, and Karl
Marx.)

II. FREEDOM IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

God constantly called His people to become truly free.

The most important experience of freedom in the life of the Israelites was their exodus
from slavery and suffering in Egypt to a new lie of freedom and dignity as God’s
people.

READ:
1. Exodus 7-11

2. Exodus 14

3. Exodus 16-17

4. Exodus 20:1-17

III. FREEDOM IS RELATIONAL

· Our true freedom is always lived as a community before God.

· True freedom is fostered when people respect the dignity of each other.

Read the examples, page 60 on your book

IV. TRUE FREEDOM IS “DOING WHAT IS GOOD”

Realizing that our freedom must always be lived as a community, we

understand how God’s Commandments set us free and do not destroy our freedom.
The Decalogue actually prohibits acts that can destroy our freedom.

The ten commandments do not only prohibit but, more importantly,

express what we should do to be truly free: worship God and always respect the life
marriage, property, and honor of all people. True freedom, therefore, is not our
capacity to do anything we want, but our capacity to do what we should as a person
in community. True freedom is doing what is good.

V. FREEDOM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

JESUS CALLS US TO TRUE FREEDOM

Through His public life, teachings and Paschal sacrifice, Jesus showed us that only in
loving god and others can we become truly free.
 By preaching and living God’s laws of love, Christ has not only revealed what we are
called to become, but also became the very source of our exercising true freedom
through His indwelling Spirit.
Jesus Christ brought freedom from condition, attitudes, and acts that hinder us from
following Him to give us the freedom for growing in His likeness.

FREEDOM FROM

True freedom is from everything that opposes out true good as persons in community
and not freedom from our moral obligation.
We are called to strive to free ourselves from these external threats by discerning and
choosing what is truly good amidst all temptations to a self-centered behavior, and
asking God for the grace to overcome our weaknesses through prayer, the celebration
of sacraments, and good companions.

FREEDOM FOR

Grow as full persons and disciples of Jesus, sharing in his life through His Spirit.
Loving God, loving others

FREEDOM GROUNDED IN TRUTH

The basic condition of freedom is truth.